Restraining pad for sink packages

ABSTRACT

A die cut pad made from corrugated paperboard for use in protecting a sink during shipment in a rectangular carton, the pad being one which folds over upon itself and has a die cut section which may extend down into the cavity in a similarly placed section on the opposite side which is positioned against the outside of the cavity and serves to hold the sink or suspend it away from the side panels of the carton.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to means for packaging particular itemssuch as recessed well sinks and more particularly to pads adapted to befitted to the sink before it is placed inside an outer carton to protectthe sink and suspend it within the walls of the carton.

2. Description of the Prior Art

There is a constant demand in all fields of packaging to improve theresistance of any given package to damage from forces outside the cartonas well as damage which may occur to the contents from movement withinthe carton.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A die cut pad which may be folded over itself and slipped on the ends orflanges of a recessed sink, the pad having two sections, one of whichmay be pushed down into the bowl of the sink to help hold it in positionand a second which is positioned against the outside of the bowl tosuspend the assembly from the surface of the outer carton.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank of the type which is the subject of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a double well sink assembled with twopads such as that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sink and pads shown in FIG. 2 asthey are positioned in a carton.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Stainless steel sinks which are to be shipped prior to installation aremade of a gauge of metal which may be dented and the surface of thestainless steel sink is one which may be subject to marring if theabrasive surface of the corrugated paperboard is allowed to vibrateagainst it. If the sink is one which is enameled, it is important thatno sharp blows be directed against the surface since it may chip orotherwise scratch. The pad which is the subject of the present inventionis one which is adapted to protect a sink 10 which includes either asingle or double well shown generally as 11 and which has a flange 12extending around the perimeter thereof. The pad is one which is formedfrom a die cut blank 13 which is substantially rectangular in shape andwhich has two vertical fold lines 14 and 15 positioned near the centerthereof and spaced apart a distance substantially equal to or slightlygreater than the thickness of the flange 12 around the perimeter of thesink 10. The pad has cut in each side 13A and 13B defined by theparallel fold lines 14 and 15 a restraining section which is eitherfoldable down into the well of the sink or foldable into a planesubstantially normal to the flange 12 of the sink 10 to help positionthe assembly on the outer surfaces of the carton, which is shown in FIG.3 as 16. On the left side of the blank in FIG. 1 is a die cut area 20which has one surface the outer lateral edge of the blank and is definedon its top and bottom edges by line cuts 17 and 18 which are curvilinearto a connecting vertical hinge line 19 serving to connect the section,which is identified as 20, to the rest of the blank 13. Similarly on theopposite side is a section 21 defined by top and bottom cut lines 22 and23 and connected by a vertical fold line 24.

As can be seen in the drawings when the blank 13 is folded over uponitself one of the sections lies in close exterior relationship to theperimeter of the wells 11 and the other, in this case section 21, ispositioned and die cut in such a shape that it may be pressed down intothe well of the sink so that the sink will not move relative to the padduring shipment.

The particular embodiment shown is for a double well sink and two padsare used, but it should be understood that this style pad can be usedfor a single well sink, and since the wells 11 are not spaced in theexact geometric center of the assembly, it is necessary to off-set thesections 20 and 21 to one end. That being the case, it is necessary toallow double-fold or reverse-fold type score lines on the blank so thatthe blank may be folded in either direction to allow a single pad blankto be used for either end of the sink.

I claim:
 1. A package for storing and shipping a sink having at leastone recessed well and a planar flange which is relatively thin in crosssection, said package comprising:a sink; a pair of die cut sinkrestraining pads, one each of said pads positioned at the respectiveends of said sink and partially folded to engage the flange of saidsink; each of said pads being folded into a generally U-shapedconfiguration with parallel sides and a narrow connecting section; eachside in each of said pads having formed therein an area which is definedby line cuts and a hinge line, said areas being moved downwardly intosaid wells of said sink and outwardly to lie in close relationship tothe exterior perimeter of the well; said sink and said pads locatedwithin a rectangular outer carton, the respective edges and surfaces ofsaid pads preventing contact between said sink and said carton.